Last update: July 20, 2018
80% of the vagus nerve fibers that connect the brain with many internal organs are afferent. This means that these fibers wind their way from the external body to the brain. And this implies that we can control and educate the body, to be exact the activation system, through breathing and movement.
Since ancient times, this way of educating the body has been a fundamental principle in China and India. Oriental and alternative medicine have discovered new ways to improve our state in a more natural way, although he is still regarded with suspicion by general culture.
Educating the body to find oneself
We all know how to breathe, but calming breathing is a vital resource for recovering mental health. When we breathe slowly and deeply, consciously, we teach the body to slow down the PNS (parasympathetic nervous system).
When working on the effects of trauma and abandonment, for example, emotional regulation makes a big difference in outcomes. One aspect of this regulation is respiratory control. The more we focus on our breath, the more benefits we will derive.
It is therefore important to pay attention to the beginning and the end of the breath and to wait a moment before the next inspiration. By noting how the air comes out and enters our body, it will be easy to understand how important this "vital and natural act" is.
Harmonizing the body and mind through yoga
Yoga starts from a traditional discipline originating in India and means "Union of physical and mental well-being". The word is associated with meditation practices in Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. Through body work, a yoga class can help us connect with the deepest and most forgotten part of ourselves. Yoga is much more than just a relaxation exercise or technique and the main benefits it can offer are:
- Consciousness development. It helps to become aware of one's own potential and natural resources, as well as of one's resistances and fears.
- Inner peace. Promotes a peaceful and safe life.
- Enhance the ability to be present in one's life. Relieves pain, reduces stress, improves breathing ...
- Improve health conditions. The list of all the benefits that yoga can offer us is really long. Among them we mention: cardiovascular conditioning, weight control, better breathing, greater flexibility ...
Research conducted by the National Institutes of Health has shown that ten weeks of yoga reduce the symptoms of PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder), especially in the patients who had not responded well to other approaches, and who instead improved with yoga.
"When we feel our body with respect and sensitivity, when we observe our mind objectively and when we learn to live from our inner reality, it is then that we reach the main goals and benefits of yoga."
Movements that improve health
Some Japanese and Korean cultures place great emphasis on growing awareness of the movement and the present moment in which it occurs; abilities that in people who have suffered trauma, for example, tend to be impaired. Martial arts, aikido, judo, taekwondo, jujitsu, capoeira from Brazil ... All of these techniques have some aspects in common, namely physical movement, breathing and meditation.
Yoga, taichi, gigong in China or even the rhythmic sounds of drums in Africa they are based on the idea that healing occurs in self-knowledge or self-awareness. Jon Kabat-Zinn was one of the pioneers of interventions that seek to exploit the communication channels that exist between the body and the mind. So, in 1979, he created a stress reduction program based on raising consciousness.
"You can think of this transformation process by imagining awareness as a lens that collects the scattered and reactive energies of our mind, and focuses them on a coherent source of energy for life, solving problems and healing us".
-Jon Kabat-Zinn-
Paying attention to our body sensations allows us to more easily recognize the ups and downs of our emotions and, therefore, to have more control over them. Mindfulness calms the sympathetic nervous system and reduces the chances of responding by fighting or running away. Body awareness allows us to release sensations or impulses that at a given moment have become stuck, with the aim of prioritizing other sensations and other impulses that are more important to our survival.
Our sensory world was born before us
We can't help but feel safe in our own skin. When we release physical tension, we can do the same with feelings. Movement helps deepen breathing and release tension. Studies conducted on abused children, soldiers with PTSD, victims of incest, refugees show that expressive therapies can be effective.
Support for the study of new intervention protocols is obtained only for what has already been demonstrated. We recall that almost four decades have passed since Alexander Fleming's discovery of the antibiotic properties of penicillin in 1928 and the definitive understanding of its mechanism in 1965.
